Calibration of DEM simulations for dynamic particulate systems

Abstract

Calibration and validation represent crucial but often-overlooked ingredients in the successful application of discrete element method (DEM) simulations. Without rigorous calibration/validation protocols, the results of DEM simulations can be imprecise or even unphysical, yet all too often the methods used by practitioners are at best cursory, and at worst entirely absent. As the particle-handling industries show an increasing interest in DEM, it is vital that this issue be resolved lest a potentially powerful tool be written off by industry as unreliable. In this work, we provide a concise overview of contemporary methods used in the calibration and validation of DEM simulations of powder flows, providing practical insights into their strengths and weaknesses, and ideas for manners in which they may be improved and/or rendered more easily adoptable in the future.